Eight spooky family mini-breaks from Manchester Airport this October half term, with last-minute deals from £34pp return
If you’re planning an October half term getaway from Manchester Airport, you won’t have failed to notice that Halloween falls on the Saturday at the end of the school break.
The airport’s unrivalled network of more than 200 destinations, served by more than 50 airlines, gives you the opportunity to see how spooky season is marked across Europe and beyond – and explore attractions from the macabre to the bizarre.
Here we round up some of the best last-minute deals available for families looking for a thriller of a half-term getaway.
‘Dracula’s Castle’, Romania
Fly direct from Manchester to Bucharest with Ryanair from £125pp return.
High in the mountains to the north of Romania’s capital Bucharest is Bran Castle – a gothic medieval fortress clinging to a rock face that is thought to have inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The castle hosts a week-long Halloween Festival in the run up to the 31st – which this year, happens to coincide perfectly with October half term. The tour features costumed actors, Dracula-themed exhibits and tours, and a Halloween party in a neighbouring park.
Spooky family fun in Denmark
Fly direct from Manchester to Copenhagen with Ryanair from £171pp return.
The Danish capital’s Tivoli Gardens, a much-loved amusement park in the heart of the city, lays one a one-month Halloween extravaganza throughout October. An open-air stage hosts artistic performances, special Halloween-themed rides appear for a limited time only, and the park is decked out in Halloween décor including more than 20,000 jack-o-lanterns.
‘Europe’s Largest Halloween Festival’, Derry
Fly direct from Manchester to Derry with Ryanair from £75pp return.
Derry’s world-renowned Halloween Festival celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. The festival, which is billed by the organisers as the largest of its kind in Europe, includes light shows, acrobatics, musical performances and ghost tours around the city’s supposedly haunted sites. An epic fireworks finale on Halloween night takes place over the River Foyle.
Ghost bus tour and medieval mysteries in Dublin
Fly direct from Manchester to Dublin with Ryanair from £34pp return.
Dublin today is a vibrant and modern metropolis, but a dark history lies underneath – and the operators of the city’s award-winning Ghost Bus Kids Tour bring that history to life, with a tour storyteller keeping the whole family entertained as they explore the city’s past. The city streets are filled with decorations as Halloween draws near, and a number of the city’s popular historical sides have spooky stories attached to them.
Delve into the underworld in Prague
Fly direct from Manchester to Prague with Ryanair from £120pp return.
Prague’s medieval network of underground tunnels and passages have plenty of haunting stories to tell and are a great starting point for exploring this city, with its stunning gothic architecture and a storied history that mingles with myth and legend. The Prague Botanical Garden hosts a family-friendly program on Halloween itself, featuring lantern-making workshops, roasted sausages, and an evening lantern parade through the illuminated grounds.
Mid-Autumn traditions in Barcelona
Fly direct from Manchester to Barcelona with Vueling from £106pp return.
In Catalonia, 31 October is La Castanyada – a traditional festival marking the start of the darker months. The symbol of the festival is the chestnut seller, an elderly woman in a headscarf who roasts nuts over an open fire. It’s traditional to buy roasted chestnuts, sweet potatoes and other snacks from street vendors on this day – but more modern Halloween traditions are also seeping in, and at the city’s Poble Espanyol museum hosts a family-friendly festival with potion workshops, haunted tunnels and DJ events in the evening.
Visit Frankenstein Castle in Germany
Fly direct from Manchester to Frankfurt with Lufthansa from £196pp return.
The medieval Frankenstein Castle on the edge of Darmstadt, near Frankfurt, is the setting for Mary Shelley’s much loved gothic horror novel. The building is more than 800 years old – and is supposedly inhabited by a plethora of ghouls, including a sleeping dragon and a coven of witches. It’s closed for renovation at the moment – but the nearby Königstein Castle is hosting the annual Frankenstein Halloween Festival. Also nearby is the Black Forest – which gave rise to many of the Brothers Grimm’s fairy stories.
Peek behind the mask in Venice
Fly direct from Manchester to Venice with Ryanair from £111pp return.
Venice is the home of the masquerade party, which has become something of a Halloween trope. The flooded streets and alleyways of this unique city have stories of hauntings and dark history attached to them and there are plenty of ghost and mystery tours available. These stories and legends are also brought to life around this time of year by the city’s museums and galleries.
*Prices quoted are the cheapest available between 23 October 2026 and 2 November 2026 inclusive, when booking directly through the relevant airline’s website, from Manchester to the destination specified, and are accurate at the time of publication. Optional extras like hold luggage and seat selection may not be included.